City news in 250 words

THE VOTES for the public referendum on the congestion charge proposal are being counted. Bookmakers are predicting a strong 'no' at the moment. Around 1.94m people were eligible to vote on whether to accept a peak-time charge as part of a £2.8bn package of investment in public transport.

A 24-HOUR POSTAL STRIKE is set to take place on Friday 19 December. The strike is over the merger of some depots. Royal Mail plan to transfer work from mail centres in Weston, Crewe, and the Copperas Hill sorting office in Liverpool to a new regional centre in Warrington. Unions have said many workers would not be able to afford to travel or relocate.

SPINNINGFIELD'S LEFTBANK COMPLEX is defying the nationwide property slump by letting some of the highest priced luxury apartments in the city. This month a wealthy businessman let a luxury penthouse for a record £7,000 a month and on the same day a Premiership footballer took another for £3,000 a month. The letting agent said it indicates the demand for very high specification city living from people who are immune to the economic woes affecting the rest of the country.

AT THE OTHER END OF THE CREDIT CRUNCH, a charity for the homeless may have to cut services because of a sharp fall in donations. Barnabus, a charity which helps people sleeping rough in Manchester runs a soup kitchen near Piccadilly Station where volunteers regularly see up to 100 people a night. The organistation depends entirely on donations, which are decreasing because of the credit crunch.